Chapter 1

The Council of Europe project on Policies and

Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity
1.1 Introduction
The final declaration of the 2007 Standing Conference of European
Ministers of Education (Council of Europe 2007) recommends:
promoting, in member states, education and training for teachers,
educators, school heads and other educational staff in the formal
and non-formal sectors in order to make teaching staff better
qualified and more professional; to this end, identifying examples
of good practices to be used as guidelines for specific EDC/HRE syl-
labuses in order to improve the initial and in-service training of
teachers and define the basic skills needed to teach democratic
citizenship and human rights.
Throughout 2005, work on the conceptual framework of the new
project on Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural
Diversity was carried out by the Secretariat and the Bureau of
the Steering Committee for Education (CDED). It was adopted at
the committee’s plenary session in October 2005.
The Faro Declaration on the Council of Europe’s Strategy for
Developing Intercultural Dialogue, adopted in October 2005, at
the end of the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the
European Cultural Convention, defined several lines of action
pointing to future priorities for intergovernmental co-operation
in the education sector, tallying with the concerns expressed by
the ministers of education at their Athens conference (Council
of Europe 2003), such as:
• respect for cultural rights and the right to education;
• the introduction of inter-sectoral policies promoting cultural
diversity and dialogue;
• development of knowledge of history, cultures, arts and
religions;
• support for cultural activities and exchanges as a means of
engaging in dialogue;

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A framework of teacher competences for engaging with diversity

• the strengthening of all the opportunities for teachers to

obtain training in the fields of education for democratic
citizenship, human rights, history and intercultural education.

1.2 Teacher education: a priority for Council of Europe

intergovernmental co-operation in the field
of education
In order to take action on the political priorities set by the min-
isters, in 2006, the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee for
Education (CDED) stepped up its activity on teacher education
through the gradual introduction of training modules for teacher
education in several fields of activity. While the emphasis was
placed mainly on the production of teaching materials, the devel-
opment of new skills remains a constant concern, especially the
way teachers acquire new skills in a context of constant change
in the teaching profession and new challenges the profession is
facing in today’s societies.
The Council of Europe has therefore initiated the creation of a
common reference framework across the European countries,
encompassing “core” competences for teacher education. These
competences may serve as a basis in preparing teachers for work-
ing in a context of sociocultural diversity (see Policies and practices
for teaching sociocultural diversity – Concepts, principles and
challenges in teacher education, Volume 2 in the project series).

1.3 The project and its objectives (2006-09)

Teacher education institutions have a crucial role in the process
of developing competences for diversity in education. The Policies
and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity project is
intended as a response to certain key questions connected with
initial teacher education and the introduction of common prin-
ciples in relation to the management of school diversity. It is
therefore addressed both to education policy makers, and to
teacher educators.
The Steering Committee for Education wished to develop this
project through three separate phases:
• Phase 1, 2006-07: analysis of the teacher education pro-
grammes available in a number of states to provide teachers
with the skills they need to manage culturally diverse classes;

18
 Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity

• Phase 2, 2007-08: preparation of a skills framework for young

teachers relating to education for diversity;
• Phase 3, 2008-09: preparation of reform guidelines through
training sessions and the raising of awareness among the
main parties.
The project has two main features:
• it relates to teaching and teacher educators whose job it is to
prepare new generations for a future of variety and differences;
• it regards sociocultural difference not as a neutral concept,
but as one accompanied by discrimination and inequalities,
which need to be combated through dynamic national policies
– one of the Council of Europe’s major concerns.

1.3.1 First phase (2006-07)

When we talk about teacher education, we are thinking in the
first instance of initial or pre-service teacher education pro-
grammes of study. However, when intending to promote changes,
other aspects of policies and of regulating teacher education
institutions are equally worthy of consideration. These include
admission policies, recruitment policies, professional development
of teaching staff, the importance attributed to research and
development work and the way in which life is organised within
teacher education institutions and links with the community. All
these aspects were the subject of a survey which the ad hoc advis-
ory project team (ED-DS) set up. Some 18 member states contrib-
uted country reports, and 14 teacher education institutions took
part in the survey.
The survey was conducted in two stages:
• drawing up of national reports on initial teacher education
in sociocultural diversity on the basis of a common question-
naire (in 18 countries);
• semi-structured interviews with different target project teams
(from 14 teacher education institutions).
The national reports covered the following aspects of teacher
education:
• policies;

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A framework of teacher competences for engaging with diversity

• curricula and syllabuses;

• teacher qualifications;
• initial teacher education institutions.
The semi-structured interviews were conducted in teacher educa-
tion institutions, with three target groups:
• academic managers of teacher education institutions (direct-
ors, principals, deans);
• teacher educators and educators;
• new teachers who had recently left these institutions.
The main results of the surveys together with a comparative ana-
lysis and recommendations, aimed at policy makers in the field
of teacher education, has been published in the report Policies
and practices for teaching sociocultural diversity – A survey report
(Volume 1 in the project series).

1.3.2 Second phase (2007-08)

Our approach to teacher education in sociocultural diversity
initially had three main aspects :
• acquiring knowledge: enabling students to acquire a basic
knowledge of diversity;
• managing diversity: being able to adopt appropriate attitudes
and employ suitable methods for taking account of the diver-
sity of a project team of pupils;
• enhancing the value of diversity: creating the conditions for
promoting diversity and developing an environment condu-
cive to integration and inclusion (see Volume 1).
A workshop on these themes, held in Strasbourg in November 2007,
brought together experts from 15 countries within the ad hoc
advisory project team.
On the basis of discussions at the workshop and within the project
team, it was possible to:
• specify in more detail the theoretical framework of diversity
in terms of concepts, principles and challenges for teacher
education;

20
 Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity

• discuss further knowledge and skills about diversity and

inclusive practices that new teachers need in order to work
meaningfully.
The results of the second phase were published in Policies and
practices for teaching sociocultural diversity – Concepts, principles
and challenges in teacher education (Volume 2).

1.3.3 Third phase (2008-09)

This phase involved developing a framework of competences.
The project team decided to analyse teachers’ needs in greater
depth, concentrating on newcomers to the profession, in liaison
with the initial primary teacher education institutions. The stud-
ies conducted during the first phase showed that initial training
was seldom practical enough to enable young teachers to cope
with the diversity which they met in their classrooms. Drawing
up a list of competences was, obviously, not a solution in itself,
but it did provide a optional basis for improving provision for
future teachers’ needs within the initial primary teacher educa-
tion programmes. In order to broaden the scope on the discussion
of competences, it was decided to organise a selection of national
consultation tables. The consultation tables were aimed at inform-
ing and discussing the competences with key stakeholders and
considering the competences from national and thematic perspec-
tives. Four countries, represented by members of the project
team, were selected to host consultation tables: Austria, Bulgaria,
Cyprus and Estonia.
Meetings held in each of these countries gave project team mem-
bers the opportunity to present their work, explore local experi-
ences and engage in discussions with state officials, government
officers, teacher educators, managers, researchers, principals,
teachers and students. These discussions showed how to adapt
the competences, as defined by the project team, to the reality
“on the ground”.

1.4 Sociocultural diversity

The development of competences is based on certain assump-
tions and concerns about the notion of sociocultural diversity.
The concept is discussed in the preceding publication of the
project, Policies and practices for teaching sociocultural diversity

21
A framework of teacher competences for engaging with diversity

– Concepts, principles and challenges in teacher education

(Volume 2). A short extract of the assumptions underpinning
the work and the results in terms of competences is presented
in this volume.
In terms of education policies, valuing diversity is a principle
introduced in the late 1990s by the Council of Europe. The prin-
ciple, defined as such by the 21st Session of the Standing
Conference of Ministers of Education (Athens, November 2003),
is based on the assumption that diversity represents an added
value to both local communities and to society.
Diversity is a concept with multiple connotations and interpreta-
tions that are culturally, socially and historically embedded. Just
like democracy, citizenship, civil society, equity or interculturality,
diversity is a term that becomes explicit through the activities
involved rather than by means of an all-embracing definition.
The implicit meanings of diversity are, however, broad enough
to be applied in relation to a large community of practitioners
and researchers, academics and policy makers with varied social
and cultural backgrounds. Rather than defining diversity, it is
possible to pinpoint some basic assumptions about human beings
and sociocultural diversity drawn from a variety of sources (inter-
national policy documents and research) that are of particular
relevance to education and to teacher education in this respect:
• all human beings are unique;
• individuals and groups of individuals have the capacity to
differ from other individuals or groups with whom they live.
It is the result of the individual’s inherent characteristic of
being unique in terms of culture, experience, skills, physical
and mental features, morals, interests, attitudes towards and
concepts of the world. Some types of diversity are regarded
as “natural” or genetic rather than “cultural”, for example,
skin colour, gender and certain forms of disability. However,
such characteristics may become differentiated in a hierarchical
manner and subject to discrimination, varying over time,
location and circumstances. But apparently “natural’ diversi-
ties may also be ‘cultural” as diversities are embedded in
particular political, cultural and relational contexts. Being
and/or feeling disabled depends on how society and environ-
ments are designed: for example, the extent to which the

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 Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity

physical and social environment is constructed for facilitating

or hindering participation for individuals and groups;
• human beings are culturally shaped in the sense that they
grow up and live within a culturally structured world. But
people are not determined by the culture they have inherited.
They may accept it uncritically, but also revise it or, in other
ways, if needed, overcome some of its influences and views
(Gutmann 1999). The human heritage and historical experi-
ence is actually the result of the interdependencies and equi-
librium forged between individuals, communities and types
of civilisations;
• diversity in a particular society or cultural context is structured
in particular ways that may imply hierarchies, based on, for
example, gender, skin colour, ethnicity, religion, sexuality or
ability. Such structures are not stable but subject to change
over time;
• there is an internal plurality of each culture, which may be
taken for granted, be contested, or represent continuous
discussions, and sometimes even imply conflicts, violence and
exclusion;
• although diverse, people have always had to interact and
co-operate, to find sustainable social forms of living together.
The more diversity there is, the more important it is to gain
a common ground or unity acknowledging the inevitability
and desirability of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue
(Parekh 2006);
• human beings are not solely characterised by their differ-
ences, but also by their similarities or what they have in com-
mon as human beings, a basic assumption on which human
rights are built.
These assumptions and considerations underpin the project, and
should be taken into account when competences are discussed
and plans are made for teacher education programmes.
This publication (Volume 3 in the project series) has key compe-
tences as a focal point, promoting discussion on what is needed
both at the level of teacher education institutions, schools and
individual teachers. In this volume it has been equally import-
ant to give space to the process of developing competences for

23
A framework of teacher competences for engaging with diversity

teaching sociocultural diversity. In this respect, the work of the

project team, in combination with the series of consultation
tables, have turned out to be vital for the results of the project
as a whole.
The experience gained from the consultation tables goes beyond
pure “consultation”. They provided interesting information and a
framework to understand the importance of national backgrounds
and particularities for the implementation of competences. They
emerged as engines for reciprocal learning – something that will
be outlined in the following chapter.

24
 Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity

The project
Project proposal
Discussion and approval by CDED
Council of Europe Standing
Conference of Ministers of
Education

Approval by the Committee of Ministers

Ad hoc advisory group

(ED-DS)

Evaluation of Identification of Adjustment of

the situation in areas of compe- concepts and
18 member states tence related to principles related
diversity to diversity

Taking into Revision of

account the Four thematic round tables the general
geographic project
Austria Cyprus Bulgaria Estonia
and national framework
needs

Dissemination of results:
three publications
final European conference (Oslo)

Submission of
results to the Council of Europe
Standing Conference of Ministers
of Education

25
Chapter 2

The consultation tables

2.1 Introduction

Consultation tables were used as a method to reflect upon and

modify a set of competences in diversity for teacher education.
An initial framework of competences, based on the analysis of
the country reports (Arnesen et al. 2008; Volume 1 in the project
series) and the analysis of concepts and issues relating to socio-
cultural diversity (Council of Europe 2009; Volume 2 in project
series), was developed at the end of 2007. It was necessary to
ensure that the framework of competences was valid and accept-
able to the intended recipients – teacher educators and manag-
ers of teacher education institutions – thus a method of consult-
ation tables was established with the following explicit aims:

• to consider the relevance of the competences within specific

country contexts;

• to gain insights into the challenges faced within specific

country contexts;

• to obtain feedback on the necessary modifications to the

competences;

• to gain an understanding of the necessary conditions within

teacher education for developing teacher competences and
the implications for policy and practice;

• to obtain examples, from practice and research, which may

help to illustrate the competences.

Austria, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Estonia agreed to each host a

consultation table under the leadership of members of the project
group from these countries. There was diversity in the context-
ual features of the countries; each of the consultation tables
illuminated a particular theme of relevance for diversity issues in

27
A framework of teacher competences for engaging with diversity

teacher education programmes. The theme of each of the consult-

ation tables was related to the specific features of the host
country:
• Graz, Austria: language diversity and competences of new
teachers (February 2008);
• Nicosia, Cyprus: inclusion and teacher competences in diversity
education (June 2008);
• Sofia, Bulgaria: ethnocultural diversity and competences of
new teachers (September 2008);
• Tallin, Estonia: diversity and the induction of new teachers
(October 2008).
In order to facilitate access to reference and working documents,
and to encourage dialogue with consultation table participants, a
co-operative space was opened on a Moodle platform, hosted by
Cyberlearn, the HES-SO e-learning centre, Sierre, Switzerland, and
this included a discussion forum, with 112 registered participants.

2.2 The consultation tables method

The consultation tables were used as a vehicle for change by
facilitating discussions in which learning would take place by all
of the parties. This emphasis on reciprocal learning made the
consultation tables distinctively different from events in which
the emphasis is on dissemination and where feedback may be
incidental and/or cursory. Reciprocity is a central concept in social
capital theory (Bourdieu 1986; Putnam 2000; Allan, Ozga and
Smyth 2009) and was seen as appropriate for emphasising the
relational nature of the consultation tables and framing them as
exchanges among people with different levels and types of exper-
tise, with all those involved considered to have something to both
give and receive. This framing involved adapting the notion of
“expert”, as denoted by the Council of Europe, from one which
posits individuals as informants with particular expertise to offer,
to a more facilitative, developmental and sometimes challenging
role. The expert member of the project team in each country in
which the consultation tables took place was viewed as an “expert
insider”, with detailed knowledge of contextual features of the
country and the specific issues. This was important in guiding the
structure, practices and ethos in each of the consultation tables
and advising the other members of the project team.

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 The consultation tables

2.3 The consultation table reports

The following section contains reports from each of the consult-
ation tables held in Austria, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Estonia. In each
case the rationale for the main focus of the consultation table
and the context in which it took place is presented. The selection
of participants, and the rationale for their inclusion, is described
together with the outcomes, including the key issues, emerging
themes and follow-up activities. The four consultation tables do
not constitute a representative sample across Europe, but each
one featured the relevant teacher education stakeholders and
reflected an important aspect of diversity. The reports of the
consultation tables below, as well as highlighting particular con-
textual features and specific diversity issues, reflect the progres-
sion and refinement of the competences as the project developed.
They may also serve as a model for other countries to organise
their own consultation tables.

2.3.1 Consultation Table 1: Austria

(organiser: Elisabeth Furch)
The first consultation table was held in Graz, Austria, on 21 and
22 February 2008. It was organised in co-operation with the
Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture of Austria and
took place at the ECML (European Centre for Modern Languages).

2.3.1.1 Main topic and context

The focus of the first consultation table was on language diversity
and competences of new teachers. This was related to an ongo-
ing discussion about the language learning needs of established
minorities and those who had settled in Austria more recently.
A Council of Europe initiative involving policy makers, experts
and practitioners in different fields of education had identified
some structural problems in the field of language learning and
teaching in Austria (Language Education Policy Profile, 2006-08).
The change of law concerning teacher education at Pädagogische
Hochschulen (universities of education) in Austria 2007 estab-
lished new curricula, but these are still in the process of imple-
mentation and some changes, especially in the area of widening
up the range of languages being taught, have to be considered.

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A framework of teacher competences for engaging with diversity

In Austria, pupils whose mother tongue is a language other than

German are not taught in separate schools or classes, but are
educated alongside German-speaking pupils. Pupils whose com-
petence in the German language is not yet sufficient to follow
classes held in German are admitted as so-called ex-matricular
pupils for a maximum period of two years. Curricula for German
as a second language (GSL) have been developed for compulsory
schools (primary schools, general secondary schools, special needs
schools, pre-vocational schools) as well as for academic secondary
schools and medium-level and higher-level commercial schools.
However, due to limited resources, pupils rarely receive the recom-
mended maximum number of lessons.
Mother tongue instruction is part of the mainstream school sys-
tem, and teachers are employed by the Austrian school authorities
like all other teachers. However, this is offered on an optional
basis. Currently, instruction is being offered in schools in the fol-
lowing languages: Albanian, Arabic, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian,
Bulgarian, Chechen, Chinese, Farsi, French, Hungarian, Italian,
Macedonian, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Romani,
Russian, Slovak, Spanish and Turkish.
Each of the nine provincial school boards (Landesschulräte) has
established school counselling centres for immigrants. In add-
ition, local school counselling centres in some provinces offer
information and support to teachers, parents and pupils. These
frequently operate in close co-operation with non-educational
local institutions.

2.3.1.2 Participants
A range of educational professionals from Austria were invited
to join the consultation table. To ensure lively participation, every
attendee received leaflets including short summaries of nearly
all the presentations in advance. Thus, they had the possibility to
inform themselves beforehand and reflect on the current issues.
The invited groups were as follows:
• policy makers from the ministry of education, arts and culture,
ECML and ÖSZ;
• experts, with research knowledge, in the field of language
diversity;

30
 The consultation tables

• education professionals presenting examples of current

practice;
• managers of Pädagogische Hochschulen and universities in
Austria;
• teacher educators of Pädagogische Hochschulen in Austria;
• teacher students of Pädagogische Hochschulen in Austria;
• newly qualified teachers (who had started teaching no longer
than five years ago);
• members of the project team and international experts invited
by the Council of Europe (from 12 countries).

2.3.1.3 Outcomes
The importance of intercultural education for mutual understand-
ing among pupils of various social, cultural and linguistic back-
grounds and to combat euro-centrism and racism was underlined
in the formal presentations. Mrs Elfie Fleck, Head of the Migration
and School Division at the Austrian Ministry of Education, Arts
and Culture, pointed out that intercultural education was intro-
duced as a so-called “educational principle” in the early 1990s,
primarily as a recommendation to teachers to take certain aspects
into account across the curriculum.
At this point of the project, the outline of the competences that
was presented (a brochure) was more detailed and complex than
the one put forward in this volume. The following key compe-
tences were presented:
• to possess knowledge about different kinds and dimensions
of sociocultural diversity;
• to promote positive communication within the school envir-
onment in relation to sociocultural diversity;
• to be sensitive to sociocultural diversity;
• to be able to manage educational settings related to socio-
cultural diversity;
• to be able to promote active and equal participation in a
situation of sociocultural diversity in the school/classroom/
community.

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A framework of teacher competences for engaging with diversity

Each one of these competences was accompanied by a definition,

an argumentation and the its aspects and how they relate to the
actual work that teachers are faced with.
The competences and needs of future teachers were discussed in
small groups. The participants appreciated the philosophical
underpinning of the competences. The competences seemed to
provoke critical thinking and reflection and were obviously a
starting point for further discussions about sociocultural diversity.
In particular, discussions in small groups provided a rich input into
further development of the competences. One important point
was the usefulness of the competences in general, then the dis-
cussion of each one of the competences. However, certain par-
ticipants (particularly some of the students) expressed the view
that the complexity and wide range of the competences pre-
sented seemed both highly demanding and somewhat over-
whelming. We were advised to place more emphasis on the
process of developing the competences than was evident in the
brochure.
Language was the main focal point of the consultation table. It
was argued that the variety of languages brought into the class-
room by children presented teachers with considerable chal-
lenges. It did, however, also create new opportunities in teaching.
There is a limited supply of school textbooks and learning mater-
ials, particularly those addressing multilingual pupils. This means
that teachers have to produce their own books and materials.
Another problem is that the production of materials is very expen-
sive and it is not always possible to print them.
The legal basis for learning minority languages was reported to
be well developed, but the implementation process needed to
be intensified. Different reasons were given for the limited use
of legal frameworks thus far, including recruitment policies, lack
of information, insufficient interest of pupils, parents and teach-
ers, possibilities for adult education, importance of the minority
languages in relation to English or French and less functionality
of the languages in everyday life in society.
There was general agreement that the competences, perhaps in
a more simple (but not simplistic) version, should be integrated
into the new curricula of universities of education throughout
Austria.

32
 The consultation tables

Examples of practice in Austria in the field of teachers’ compe-

tences in language diversity were provided. These included pre-
and in-service training. Policy implications for teachers’ education
were identified. In addition, there were special inputs at round
table sessions, including some in small discussion groups dealing
with the following issues:
• research outcomes within the field of language diversity in
Austria:
• language diversity surprises in Austrian classrooms;
• multicultural kindergarten in Vienna – necessary changes?
• language diversity in the curricula of teacher education insti-
tutions in Austria;
• projects and initiatives in the field of language diversity in
Austria.

A number of outcomes of the consultation tables are highlighted

below. Discussions about language teaching and learning con-
tinue and further meetings with policy makers and experts in
different fields of education will take place. Teacher education
institutions are hosting seminars such as “German as a second
language” and “New needs for teaching in cultural and lingual
heterogeneous classes”. New curricula will be installed. The min-
istry of education, arts and culture has funded a series of semi-
nars especially for teacher educators called “Train the trainer”
focusing on diversity. The ministry has also established a working
group to explore the current needs of new teachers in this field.
As a more general consequence of the project, a group of eight
experts has applied for a new COMENIUS project called e-Agora,
which focuses on dealing with sociocultural diversity in teacher
education.

2.3.2 Consultation Table 2: Cyprus

(organiser: Pavlina Hadjitheodoulou-Loizidou)
The second consultation table was held on 5 and 6 June 2008 in
Nicosia, Cyprus, and was organised by the Ministry of Education
and Culture of Cyprus in co-operation with the Cypriot Pedagogical
Institute.

33